| Noise pollution (or environmental noise in | | | | neighbour you could make as much noise as you |
| technical areas and venues) is termed as | | | | wanted and it wasn't a problem. Nowadays |
| displeasing or annoying human or mechanically | | | | basically we have people living on top of |
| caused sound that is or can be described as | | | | each other, underneath each other and in fact |
| alien to the environment. | | | | all over the place and more importantly |
| | | | interfacing with modern day technologies in |
| I guess to most of us the major source of | | | | ways that hitherto would have thought to have |
| this pollution would come from transportation | | | | been impossible. As such the use of the |
| systems, as anyone who has tried to hire a | | | | acoustic foam and the noise dampening systems |
| car from the main AVIS car rental depot at | | | | are essential. |
| Heathrow Airport would testify to. Based on | | | | |
| the perimeter road at Heathrow sometimes the | | | | If we take for example the situation in many |
| noise of landing 747's can make it a little | | | | cities nowadays when we have whole plethoras |
| difficult explaining to the attendant what | | | | of modern communication links such as |
| problems you may have had (or not) with the | | | | underground railway systems, over ground |
| car you are returning. | | | | railway systems, modern two-way flyovers and |
| | | | in fact transports communications and |
| However before we all start to assume that | | | | residential accommodation right next to each |
| noise pollution is purely something that | | | | other. Without adequate noise reduction |
| occurs in major cities let us consider the | | | | systems in place and incorporated within the |
| effect of noise pollution in rural | | | | structure of the residential and work |
| communities. Now noise from recreational | | | | accommodation than pretty quickly life within |
| vehicles has become quite a major issue with | | | | these new cities would become pretty |
| the rural communities. Quad Bikes or All | | | | intolerable. |
| Terrain Vehicles (ATV's) have become a | | | | |
| serious problem in the countryside. They have | | | | As we have said before, enter stage left |
| increased massively in popularity and are | | | | acoustic foam. Without these new technologies |
| joining the more traditional two wheeled | | | | providing the noise insulation, the quality |
| bikes as the vehicle of choice for off road | | | | of life in most built up areas would be |
| riding. | | | | appalling. |
| | | | |
| The bottom line is that we live in a noisy | | | | At this point it becomes pretty obvious to |
| world and by that I mean not just the sound | | | | all concerned quite what a debt we owe to |
| of cars and traffic etc but the way we live | | | | noise reduction systems and soundproofing in |
| our lives and perhaps more importantly where | | | | general that quite often mere words on no |
| we are now living and the density of the | | | | longer enough. |
| accommodation we provide ourselves. | | | | |
| | | | Having lived in the centre of London and also |
| In the old days when basically all you had to | | | | spent time on the northwest coast of County |
| worry about was the old cottage in the middle | | | | Donegal in Ireland, when it comes to noise |
| of the field 6 miles away from the nearest | | | | pollution I know which one I prefer. |